Effect of the free radical scavenger MCI-186 on spinal cord reperfusion after transient ischemia in the rabbit

Objective: Paraplegia remains a serious complication of aortic operations. The production of free radicals during reperfusion after transient ischemia is believed to induce secondary spinal neuronal injury, resulting in paraplegia. The aim of the present study was to clarify the protective effect and method of administration of antioxidants on the neurological and histological outcome in the animal model for reperfusion injury after transient spinal cord ischemia. Methods: New Zealand white rabbits underwent surgical exposure of the abdominal aorta that was clamped for 15 minutes to achieve spinal cord ischemia. Group A animals received two 10 mg/kg doses of 3-methyl-l-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one (MCI-186) at the time of release of the aortic clamp and 30 minutes later. In group B, MCI-186, 5 mg/kg, was given three times, at the time of aorta clamp release, 30 minutes and 12 hours later. In group C (control group), one dose of vehicle was administered. Neurological status was assessed using modified Tarlov’s score until 168 hours after operation. Spinal cord sections were examined microscopically to determine the extent of ischemic neuronal damage. Results: Groups A and B animals had better neurological function than group C (p(0.001). In contrast, group C animals exhibited paraplegia or paraparesis with marked neuronal necrosis. The number of surviving neurons within examined sections of the spinal cord was significantly greater in group B than in group C (p(0.001). Conclusion: In a 15-minute ischemia-reperfusion model using rabbits, systemic repetitious administration of MCI-186, a free radical scavenger, was found to have a protective effect on the spinal cord neurons both neurologically and histologically. We postulate that the drug minimizes the delayed neuronal cell death for reperfusion injury after transient ischemia by reducing the free radical molecules. Moreover, it was thought that we could protect delayed neuronal cell death more effectively by administering MCI-18612 hours later.     

Bayesian estimation of a random effects heteroscedastic probit model

Summary Bayesian analysis is given of a random effects binary probit model that allows for heteroscedasticity. Real and simulated examples illustrate the approach and show that ignoring heteroscedasticity when it exists may lead to biased estimates and poor prediction. The computation is carried out by an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling scheme that generates the parameters in blocks. We use the Bayes factor, cross‐validation of the predictive density, the deviance information criterion and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves for model comparison.     

Ill-health as a household norm: Evidence from other people's health problems

This paper proposes that an individual's self-assessed health (SAH) does not only suffer from systematic reporting bias and adaptation bias but is also biased owing to confounding health norm effects. Using 13 waves of the British Household Panel Survey covering the period 1991–2005, I show that, while there is a negative and statistically significant correlation between SAH and individuals' own health problem index, this negative effect reduces with the average number of health problems per (other) family member. The relative health bias is small, however, which implies that measures of SAH may not suffer seriously from systematic health norm bias. This is an important finding for researchers working with SAH data as it indicates that we do not have to worry too much about controlling for confounding influences from the health of other household members when estimating SAH regression equations.     

两种隐匿阴茎大鼠模型的建立及比较

目的:建立稳定的大鼠隐匿阴茎模型,为探索阴茎包埋对海绵体结构和功能的影响提供实验动物模型。方法:90只2周龄雄性SD大鼠随机均分为A、B、C3组,A组采用阴茎根部内荷包缝合法,B组采用包皮折叠缝合法包埋阴茎,C组为假手术组。在180d内观察两种方法的包埋效果。结果:A组术后4只死于急性尿潴留,5只因尿道口周围软组织感染、皮肤破溃导致包埋失败,3只因包埋过松阴茎伸出;B组术后1只死于麻醉,2只死于急性尿潴留;因阴茎发育和勃起,A组有7只、B组有10只阴茎伸出;C组1只死于麻醉。A组和B组中其余大鼠均有较好的包埋效果,A组包埋成功率为36.7%,B组为56.7%,而且可以在实验中任何时候解除包埋。结论:包皮折叠缝合法和阴茎根部内荷包缝合法均能建立稳定的、且与人类隐匿阴茎自然病程较为一致的2周龄大鼠隐匿阴茎动物模型。     

Development of a Simple Model of Extrinsic Denervation of the Small Bowel in Mouse

Small bowel transplantation (SBT) is associated with poorly understood enteric dysfunction. The study of SBT in mice is hindered by the technical difficulty of orthotopic SBT in the mouse. Our aim was to develop an easy preparation of extrinsic denervation of the entire jejunoileum in mice as a model of orthotopic SBT. All neurolymphatic tissues accompanying the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and vein (SMV) were ligated just distal to the middle colic vessels. The SMA and SMV were then stripped of investing adventitia, and the mesentery to jejunum and colon were transected radially. Jejunum and colon were not transected and reanastomosed. To confirm extrinsic denervation 1, 3, and 6 months later, segments of small bowel were stained for protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive intensity was then quantified using a semiquantitative analysis. Immunohistochemical fluorescence showed persistence of PGP9.5 immunoreactivity confirming enteric nerves in jejunoileum; however, there was no TH immunoreactivity in jejunoileum in denervated mice despite the expected preservation of TH immunoreactivity in the still-innervated duodenum at 1 month. At 3 months, sparse immunoreactivity for TH was present, and by 6 months, reinnervation of TH-containing nerves appeared similar to controls. Quantification of intensity at each time-point further confirmed this trend. This technique in the mouse accomplishes a complete extrinsic denervation of jejunoileum early postoperatively (1 and 3 months); reinnervation occurs by 6 months. This is an easily learned murine model of orthotopic SBT. Presented at the American Gastroenterological Association during Digestive Disease Week in Los Angeles, CA, as a poster presentation on May 23 2006. Abstract published in GastroenterologyE 2006; 130:A604.     

Decision analysis model of incisional hernia after open abdominal surgery

Background The incidence rate of incisional hernias after open surgery has been reported to be higher than that of port site hernias after laparoscopic surgery. No studies have compared the costs for the health care system in treating those two types of hernia. Methods A systematic review was conducted to obtain the baseline data, and a decision analysis model was created to simulate the occurrence and recurrence of incisional and port site hernias. Results The overall risk of having incisional hernias was eight-times higher than that of having port site hernias (7.4% vs 0.9%). A cost savings of ￡93 per patient can be generated for the health care system in the UK. Similar results were obtained for Germany, Italy and France. Conclusions The additional treatment costs for incisional hernia should be taken into account when the costs of a surgery performed by open approach are compared with by laparoscopy.     

Laser induced autofluorescence studies of animal skin used in modeling of human cutaneous tissue spectroscopic measurements

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Laser-induced autofluorescence spectroscopy provides excellent possibilities for medical diagnostics of different tissue pathologies including cancer. However, to create the whole picture of pathological changes, investigators collect spectral information from patients in vivo or they study different tumor models to obtain objective information for fluorescent properties of every kind of healthy and diseased tissue. Therefore, it is very important to find the most appropriate, and close to the human skin, animal samples from the fluorescence point of view, which will allow the extrapolation of the animal data to human spectroscopic diagnostics. METHODS: In the present work, we examined the autofluorescence properties of different animal skin tissues, which are considered as the most common skin models. A nitrogen laser was used as an excitation source. Samples of healthy mouse, chicken and pig skin in vivo and/or ex vivo were studied and were compared with results obtained from investigations of healthy human skin in vivo. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Specific features of the recorded spectra are discussed and the possible origin of the obtained fluorescence signals is proposed. Quantitative evaluation of data extrapolation for each skin type is also depicted.     

幕上星形细胞肿瘤Ki-67抗原表达及其预后作用

目的 探讨Ki-67抗原在幕上星形细胞肿瘤中的表达及其预后作用。方法 使用S-P免疫组化方法检测82例原发性幕上星形细胞肿瘤标本中Ki-67抗原的表达。单因素使用Kaplan-Meier法,多因素分析使用COX比例风险模型进行预后分析。结果Ki-67 指数在组织学分级GradeⅡ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ中分别为2.86%±1.57%,6.72%±3.95%,8.16%±3.92%(P<0.01)。单因素及多因素分析均提示Ki-67指数是独立的预后因素。在GradeⅡ中,Ki-67指数>2.5%与Grade Ⅲ中Ki-67指数≤2.5%的患者生存期差异无显著性(P>0.05);在GradeⅣ中,Ki-67指数≤2.5%与>2.5%的患者生存期有显著性差异(P<0.01)。结论 Ki-67指数随着各病理级别增高而增高;Ki-67指数>2.5%提示预后较差。在同一病理级别中,Ki-67指数不同,其预后有显著性差异。而部分不同病理级别的患者,随着Ki-67指数的不同,其生存期却无显著差异。联合组织病理检查及Ki-67指数检测有助于更精确地判断预后。     

腹外侧视前区GABA能神经元对大鼠睡眠-觉醒周期的影响

目的 研究腹外侧视前区(VLPO）γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)能神经元对大鼠睡眠—觉醒周期的影响。方法 采用脑立体定位、核团微量注射和多导睡眠描记技术。结果 VLPO双侧分别微量注射GABA合成关键酶(谷氨酸脱羧酶，GAD)抑制剂3-巯基丙酸(3-MP，5μg，0．1μl)，与对照组相比，注射后当日对大鼠睡眠—觉醒周期无影响；注射后第1天大鼠睡眠量减少，觉醒时间增加；第2、3天恢复正常。结论 GABA能神经元在VLPO参与大鼠睡眠—觉醒周期调节且有促睡眠作用。     

静脉性脑梗死动物模型的建立及相关研究

静脉性脑梗死动物模型的建立是通过不同的栓塞方法闭塞实验动物上矢状窦的不同部位，其目的是观察脑组织的血流量、血氧饱和度、脑组织水含量、脑灌注压、及各种影像学表现等参数指标的变化，从病理生理角度探讨静脉性脑梗死的发病机理及演变过程。